1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to communication systems. More particularly, the present invention relates to a portable terminal that can be operated according to whether a Near Field Communication (NFC) module is operated in a transmitting process or a receiving process, and a method for operating the portable terminal.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Near Field Communication (NFC) module is installed in portable terminals and includes a reader, where the reader reads data from a tag of another portable terminal or downloads new data by generating electromagnetic waves, if the portable terminal is located close to another portable terminal. An NFC system using the NFC module has been applied to a traffic card payment system, a food bill payment system, a digital door lock, and the like.
Recently, portable terminals have been released that include an NFC module with both a tag function and a reader function. The portable terminals having the tag function and the reader function can be operated in a tag mode or a reader mode according to a user's setting. However, conventional portable terminals operate their antenna in different ways according to whether they are operating in the tag mode or the read mode. Therefore, the conventional portable terminals tune the antenna so that it can be operated in both the tag mode and the reader mode. Thus, the conventional portable terminals cause a relatively large amount of standby consumption power in the tag mode and cannot perform an optimal antenna operation for a reader in the read mode.
Therefore, a need exists for a portable terminal that minimizes power consumption in a tag mode and performs an optimal antenna operation in a read mode.